Minnie and Moo -- A Tribute

I have a friend, I'll call her Drae (because that's her name, but not her real name) who is incredibly dear to me. Our coming together is a sort of cosmic happening, since my husband and I went to college with her husband before she even him. Fast forward a decade or so later and I'm sitting next to her at an OJWC meeting and when she says her name, I say, "I knew a [so and so] in college," and she says, "That's my husband!" The rest is Herstory.

About the time I met her, we started laughing together and haven't stopped since. Over the years I have heard many people espouse the "Laughter is the best medicine" theory, and I have to tell you that Drae is my litmus test for that. We have gone from the sublime to the broad comedy together and I always come up gasping for air and wanting more, even as I'm grabbing my ribs because they just ache.

Early in our friendship, when we were working on a Kids Who Can committee together, I told her that our ramblings reminded me of the "Minnie and Moo" chapter books by Denis Cazyet. Stay with me (my kids and I love these books)! M & M are two cows who find themselves, largely due to Moo's philosophical bent and Minnie's undying support, in the most unimaginable situations. I am Minnie to Drae's Moo. Over and over again we have played out these roles. Drae has an incredible imagination and can visualize almost anything creatively. I love everything she comes up with and think, "Why not?!?!?" and pull the trigger.

Drae is the most real, unpretentious, caring and alive person I know. Her spirit is infectious, and though I lost her to a job transfer almost three years ago now, there is never a question that we are in touch and just as looney as we always were -- albeit probably a lot less dangerous given that we live a couple of hours away from each other now. Lack of proximity hasn't dampened my affection for her.

Oh, and the picture you see on my profile is from a rather infamous boat ride Drae was behind. I was still nursing at that time but had set aside the evening for a "Similac only" outing. Drae promptly presented me with a plastic resin bracelet reserved, until that day, for embarassed bovines. The personalization? "DRY COW."